“….On this journey, a very firm resolve is needed. The conscious mind where all the thought processes take place is only a small part; the rest of the mind is still deeper. If we were to divide the mind into ten parts, the conscious mind would be only one part, the other nine parts are the unconscious mind. Our thinking and reasoning take place in only one part, but the rest of the brain is not aware of this. The rest of the brain has no sense of it. When we make a conscious resolution to meditate, to enter into samadhi, ultimate bliss, the major part of our brain remains ignorant of this resolution. This unconscious part will not support us in this resolution. But if we don’t get support from it we cannot succeed. To get the support, a determined, conscious effort is needed. I will now explain how to make this conscious effort.

When you wake up, let it be with determination, and at night when you go to bed, when you lie down on your bed, think over your resolution for five minutes and repeat it to yourself as you go to sleep.

I would like to explain this exercise for becoming determined, and you will be practicing it here as well as in your normal life. As I explained, with this resolution your whole mind, conscious and unconscious both, is to decide that, “I will be silent, I am determined to experience meditation.”

The night Gautam Buddha attained enlightenment, he was sitting under his bodhi tree and he said, “I will not get up from this place until I am enlightened.”
You might think, “But what is the connection?” But the resolution, “I will not…” spreads all through the body – and he did not get up until he became enlightened! Amazingly, he became enlightened the same night. And he had been trying for six years, but never before did he have such intensity.

I will give you a small exercise to intensify your resolve. We will do this exercise here and also at night before sleeping.

If you exhale completely and then stop yourself from inhaling, what will happen? If I exhale completely and them pinch my nose shut and don’t inhale, what will happen? In a little while my total being struggle to inhale. Won’t every pore of my body and those millions of cells scream for air? The longer I try to hold my breath, the deeper the longing for breath is going to spread into my unconscious mind. The longer I hold my breath, the more the innermost part of my being is going to ask for air. And if I hold it to the last moment, my whole being will demand air. Now it is not a simple desire anymore; the top layer is not the only one affected. Now it has become a question of life and death; now the deeper layers, the layers underneath, are also going to demand more air.

In that moment, when you reach the state where your whole being is starving for air, you should repeat to yourself, “I am going to experience meditation.” In that moment, when your life is demanding air, you should repeat the thought, “I will enter into a state of silence. This is my resolution: I will experience meditation.” In this state, your mind should repeat this thought; your body will ask for air and your mind will repeat this thought. The stronger the demand for air, the deeper your resolution will enter inside. And if your whole being is struggling and you are repeating this sentence, then the strength of your resolution will increase many times over. In this way it will reach to your unconscious mind.

You will be making this resolution every day before the daily meditation, and at night you will do it before going to sleep. Repeat the sentence, and then go to sleep. When you are falling asleep, at that moment also let it be constantly ringing in your mind: “I will experience meditation. This is my resolution. I will enter into silence.”

This resolution should go on ringing in your mind so that you don’t even realize when you are falling asleep. In sleep your conscious mind is inactive and the doors are open for the unconscious mind. If your mind repeats this idea again and again while the conscious mind is inactive, it can then enter the subconscious mind. And in time you will observe a significant change __ you will see it even in these three days. So now try to understand the method by which you can strengthen the resolution.

This is the way to do it: first take slow, deep breaths, filling yourself up, filling your lungs up as deeply as you can. When you have inhaled as much as you can, continue to hold the thought, “I will experience meditation”, and keep repeating this sentence. Then exhale, and at one point you will feel that there is no more air to exhale. But there is __ so throw that out too and repeat the sentence. Now you will feel that there is absolutely no more air left __ but still there is, so throw that out. Don’t be afraid: you will never exhale completely. That’s why, when you feel that there is no more breath left in you, there always is __ so try also to exhale that. Exhale as totally as you can, and keep repeating, “I will experience meditation.”

It is a strange phenomenon: through it a thought process is triggered in your unconscious mind. An intense resolve will arise and you will already see its effects tomorrow, so you have to make your resolution very strong. We will start the experiment before we leave this place this evening. You are to do it five times, that is, you should inhale and exhale five times and repeat the thought inside five times. If anyone has a heart problem, or any other problem, don’t do it strenuously, do it softly. Do it as gentle as possible, don’t make yourself uncomfortable.

I have talked about the will to experience. You must practice it every night during these three days, before sleeping. Lying on your bed, repeat the sentence as you gradually fall asleep. If you follow this process diligently and your voice reaches the unconscious, the result is easy to induce and is unmistakable.”